The Right to the City, more than a slogan: from the international movement to the Mexico City Charter

HIC

*Presentation will be in
English

The Human Rights Research
and Education Centre
 
invites you to a presentation by Lorena Zárate
entitled “
The Right to the City,
more than a slogan: from the international movement to the Mexico City Charter

Tuesday April 30, 2013
11:30-13:00
Fauteux 550, 57 Louis-Pasteur room 570
RSVP:HRREC@uottawa.ca


Guest Speaker:
Lorena Zárate
President, Habitat International Coalition & John
Bousfield Distinguished Visitor, Spring 2013, Department of Geography,
University of Toronto

Abstract:

The Right to the City is much more than a slogan in Latin America. The social
mobilization, academic research and public debates about urban reform date back
more than 50 years in the region. In some countries, national and local legal
instruments and public policies have been developed over time, including the
City’s Statute in Brazil (2001) and the Mexico City Charter for the Right to
the City (2010). Those processes, explicitly linked to urban reform struggles,
are also inscribed in the global movement related to the construction of and
advocacy for the World Charter on the Right to the City (2005).

In 1948, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, the world
population was predominantly rural. Today, more than half of world inhabitants
live in cities. What specific challenges poses the urbanization process to the
“classic” human rights approach? What are the main contents and contributions
of the right to the city proposals?